Ambassador Vershbow Visited Udmurtiya (Dec 17, 2004)
2004 Press Releases
Ambassador Vershbow Visited Udmurtiya
December 17, 2004
Ambassador Vershbow made a two day visit to Udmurtiya. In Izhevsk on December 16 he visited the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, which is cooperating with the U.S. company Remington to produce guns for the U.S. sporting market. He also met with Udmurtiya President Alexander Volkov, to discuss the economic and political situation in the region.
During his visit to Izhevsk Ambassador Vershbow met with students of Udmurt State University, and held a lively question-and-answer session with them about U.S.-Russian relations, the impact of globalization on Russia, and how America and Russia are responding to
the problem of HIV/AIDS. He then opened a photographic exhibit of the history of U.S.-Russian Summit Meetings at the Udmurt National Library.
On December 17 the Ambassador visited the Votkinsk Portal Monitoring Facility, where U.S. inspectors monitor production of Russian missiles under the START treaty. The Portal Monitoring Facility is the largest official U.S. presence in Russia outside Moscow. The
Portal Monitoring Facility has operated in Votkinsk since 1988. The Ambassador visited visit a local orphanage for handicapped children, which is supported by the U.S. government.